Hosea 12:4
in Hosea 12Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us,
KJV
Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth–el, and there he spake with us;
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This verse in Hosea 12
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThere were places in Jerusalem where he taught and other places to which he retired. "In daytime he was teaching in the temple." Just this had been foretold by Hosea: "In my house did they find me, and there did I speak with them."
This site's exposition
grasped his brother’s heel
on Hosea 12:3-5
"In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel" recalls Jacob's birth (Genesis 25:26), then Peniel, where he wrestled until daybreak (Genesis 32:24 to 30) and "wept and sought His favor". Verse 5 names the God he met, "the LORD is His name of renown", the covenant name the nation now bears and dishonors. Jacob's struggle and tears are the pattern of true prevailing, abandoned by descendants who serve the calves at Bethel, where Jacob found Him.
This site's exposition
struggled with the angel and prevailed
Wesley notes that this angel is called God in verse 3 and the LORD of Hosts in verse 5, and he took him for the Messiah, angel by office. Clarke observes that the weeping appears only here. Genesis records the wrestling, and Bethel is where God gave Jacob the promises of Genesis 28:13 to 15.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The judgment therefore of the Lord with Judah: and a visitation upon Jacob. He will render to him according to his ways, and according to his inventions he will recompense him. In the womb he supplanted his brother: and in his strength he had success with the angel, and he prevailed over the angel, and was strengthened: he wept and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us.
The Medieval Church1 voice
It happened one day that the enemy of the human race met the wrestler of the eternal King on a journey and challenged him with these words: "If you would like to see what each of us can accomplish with his strength, let us have …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The angel - Called ver. 3, God; and ver. 5, Jehovah, Lord of hosts. He was no created angel, but the Messiah; eternal God by nature and essence, angel by office, and voluntary undertaking. He wept - He prayed with tears from a sense of his own unworthiness, and with earnestness for the mercy he desired.
Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He had power over the Angel - Who represented the invisible Jehovah. He wept, and made supplication - He entreated with tears that God would bless him; and he prevailed. The circumstance of his weeping is not mentioned in Genesis. He found him in Beth-el - It was there that God made those glorious promises to Jacob relative to his posterity. See Gen 28:13-15.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
What a sad contrast, that in this same Beth-el now Israel worships the golden calves! there he spake with us--"with us," as being in the loins of our progenitor Jacob (compare Ps 66:6, "They . . . we;" Heb 7:9, 10). What God there spoke to Jacob appertains to us. God's promises to him belong to all his posterity who follow in the steps of his prayerful faith.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He wept and made supplication unto Him - Jacob’s weeping is not mentioned by Moses. Hosea then knew more than Moses related. He could not have gathered it out of Moses, for Moses relates the words of earnest supplication; yet the tone is that of one, by force of earnest energy, wresting, as it were, the blessing from God, not of one weeping. Yet Hosea adds this, in harmony with Moses. For “vehement desires and earnest petitions frequently issue in tears.” “To implore means to ask with tears” . “Jacob, learning, that God Himself thus deigned to deal with him, might well out of amazement and wonder, out of awful respect to Him, and in earnest desire of a blessing, pour out his supplication with tears.” Herein he became an image of Him, “Who, in the days of His flesh, offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared” Heb 5:7. : “This which he saith, ‘he prevailed,’ subjoining, ‘he wept and made supplication,’ describes the strength of penitents, for in truth they are strong by weeping earnestly and praying perseveringly for the forgiveness of sins, according to that, “From the days of John the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Whosoever so imitates the patriarch Jacob, who wrestled with the Angel, and, as a conqueror, extorted a blessing from him, he, of whatever nation he be, is truly Jacob, and deserveth to be called Israel.” : “Yea, herein is the unconquerable might of the righteous, this his wondrous wrestling, herein his glorious victories, in glowing longings, assiduous prayers, joyous weeping. […]
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָיָּ֤שַׂר | vaiyasar | and he struggled | H7786 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מַלְאָךְ֙ | malokh | an angel | H4397 → | |
| וַיֻּכָ֔ל | vaiyukhal | and he prevailed | H3201 → | 194 times |
| בָּכָ֖ה | bakhah | he wept | H1058 → | |
| וַיִּתְחַנֶּן־ | vaiyitchanen- | and he sought favor | H2603 → | |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | Beth- | H1008 → | 142 times |
| אֵל֙ | ʾel | -el | H1008 → | 142 times |
| יִמְצָאֶ֔נּוּ | yimtzaenu | he found him | H4672 → | 455 times |
| וְשָׁ֖ם | vesham | and there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| יְדַבֵּ֥ר | yedaber | he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| עִמָּֽנוּ׃ | ʾimanu | with us | H5973 → | 1050 times |
וָיָּ֤שַׂרand he struggled
vaiyasarH7786 →
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מַלְאָךְ֙an angel
malokhH4397 →
וַיֻּכָ֔לand he prevailed
vaiyukhalH3201 →194 times
בָּכָ֖הhe wept
bakhahH1058 →
וַיִּתְחַנֶּן־and he sought favor
vaiyitchanen-H2603 →
ל֑וֹto him
lo
בֵּֽית־Beth-
beit-H1008 →142 times
אֵל֙-el
ʾelH1008 →142 times
יִמְצָאֶ֔נּוּhe found him
yimtzaenuH4672 →455 times
וְשָׁ֖םand there
veshamH8033 →834 times
יְדַבֵּ֥רhe spoke
yedaberH1696 →1141 times
עִמָּֽנוּ׃with us
ʾimanuH5973 →1050 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Thessalonians 4:17After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:52
in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
- Revelation 11:12
And the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.
- John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.
- 1 Corinthians 15:52
Through
Hebrews 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…
it leads to
- Luke 22:41–44
And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,
- Matthew 27:46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- Mark 14:32–39
Then they came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus told His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
- John 17:1
When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.
- Luke 22:41–44
Through
Malachi 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He…
it leads to
- Malachi 4:5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Malachi 4:5
Where this verse is studied
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About Hosea
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Braulio of Zaragoza, LIFE OF ST. EMILIAN 7; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 12:2-6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.39.